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tv   News Nation  MSNBC  April 23, 2013 11:00am-12:00pm PDT

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i'm tamron hall. the news nation is following big developing news within the hour. a senate committee will question the fbi over what it knew about the boston bombing suspects prior to the attacks last week. the classified briefing starts in about 30 minutes. senate intelligence committee chair dianne feinstein said she'll look into the 2011 questioning of the older brother, tamerlan tsarnaev. a number of lawmakers are going after the fbi, questioning if the agency failed to notice any red flags there. and in another classified hearing later this evening, leaders from the fbi, homeland security and the national counter terrorism center will brief house members on the case as well. that is also a classified hearing. earlier today, janet napolitano
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on how they left the u.s. for russia. >> is it true that his identity document did not match his airline ticket and if so, why did tsa police the discrepancy? >> even with the misspelling under our current system, there are redundancies, and so the system did ping when he was leaving the united states. >> meanwhile, vice president joe biden is going to attend tomorrow's memorial for the murdered m.i.t. police officer sean collier. the family of the 8-year-old victim martin richard, held a private funeral this morning. they will hold a public memorial in the coming weeks. local hospitals say 45 people remain in medical care. that includes two children whose conditions are said to be improving. the surviving suspect's
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condition listed as fair. in boston, businesses and residents were allowed to return to the area where it all happened. workers walked on the once blood soaked sidewalk into the building still damaged from the blast. and now to the parents of the suspect, the parents plan to travel to meet. first she spoke to reporters saying her soons are innocent. >> what happened is a terrible thing. but i know that my kids have nothing to do with this. i know it. i am mother. i have, i know my kids. i know my kids. my kids would never get involved. >> let's go to the family's home. adrian, what dels the family say
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today? >> reporter: the mother appeared in public for the first time in a couple of days and she didn't really want to speak to reporters, although at one point, someone asked her about her eldest son's muslim faith and she shot back, he has every right to be a muslim. she has been very, very sensitive about this. we met her late last night when we interviewed her husband. she didn't want to talk about religion or how the family practices religion. but she did say to us that she started wearing the head scarf about four years ago. and it is believed that she was the one who persuaded her eldest son, tamerlan, the 26-year-old suspect who was killed last friday, to convert. not to convert but to he will brace islam because she was worried he was going down a worrying path. >> we heard the mother there, adrian, adamant that she know her sons and they would never do anything like this. do we know any more about the contact she had with both of
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them immediately before the attacks and right after? >> well, there have been some conflicting versions coming from the family itself. she has said in previous interviews that the son, the eldest son, she was very close to tamerlan. she has describe their relationship as one of bea being very, very tender and affectionate but very, very close as well. she said that he spoke to her thursday night and said that he was being shot at and being chased. when we asked the father if that had been the case, he just looked at us blankly. he seemed very confused by this version. both did say they had spoken to their sons after the bombing but before thursday and that everything seemed okay. that it was a normal conversation. >> do we know if the parents provided any financial assistance to the sons?
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apparently, the wife lived in the home in cambridge. do we know if the parent wos send money regularly to pay for school or whatever else their sobs were involved with? >> we spoke to an aunt and an umpgle. they did suggest there had been financial support. the parents moved back to dagestan here in the capital about a year and a half ago. because it seems that the father has not been doing well. he has been very unhealthy. he thought he was about to die so he wanted to come back here to die. they are considered wealthy by local standards because they had spent time in the states, whatever salary you can earn there is much greater than what you could earn here in dagestan, of course. that doesn't mean that they were living within their means. they have an apartment here that we saw last night. it wasn't furnished completely. there was some furniture but it looks like a half lived in state which is a little surprising if
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they've been back here for about a year and a half. >> quickly before i let you go. i have to ask you about this mosque. people have focused a lot in dagestan as well. tamerlan reportedly visited daily while he was there. do we know any more about the happenings at that mosque? >> no. but we have confirmed with someone who is a security adviser to the local government as well as to moscow who confirmed that there have been security campaigns in that mosque. there was a recent detention of about 100 to 200 people. there are rumors, and many people believe that there are people with militant backgrounds associated with that mosque. or at least who spend time in that mosque. there are a lot of people who are innocent and go there to pray. we're trying to clarify how often the son went. the aunt said he told her he was praying every day. >> thank you very much.
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let me bring in national investigative correspondent. the crime scene behind you, quote/unquote cleared and businesses and people are starting. i want to get to the detail of the investigation. just asked adrian who is in dagestan about this mosque. this becomes relevant because we're learning more about what the brothers may have been motivated by to commit these alleged crimes. >> we are learning more about the investigation today and in particular, what dzhokhar tsarnaev has been telling the fbi. as has been reported, he said nobody else was involved. but in addition, he said, what was the motivation to defend islam? as a result of the u.s. wars in iraq and afghanistan. that has given some indication of where they were coming from. what their thinking was. and thirdly, and this is perhaps
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most significant, so far, from an examination of the cell phones and e-mails on the computer that they've gotten, they have not found any indication, the fbi has not found any indication of other communications that raise, that suggest direct involvement by somebody else. that they were taking instruction from somebody else or that somebody else was an accomplice. it doesn't mean the investigation is far from over and this is far from conclusive. the initial indicators are, do seem to back up what tsarnaev has been telling investigators. as i said before, the investigation is continuing. we came just a little while ago. we're at the mosque in cambridge where the older tsarnaev had been, was an attendee and engaged in some disruptions that have been reported over the last few days. the fbi is questioning members of the mosque. they had a question the last few
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days. people present for those services. and they are continuing to talk to members of that congregation. >> and we focus heavily on the federal charges but i understand state prosecutors expect to charge dzhokhar tsarnaev separately with the murder of the m.i.t. police officer, sean collier. >> right. that is something for the middlesex district attorney's office. that is a state crime, not a federal crime. we could expect charges by the end of this week, is what i'm told. nothing conclusive on that. they are obviously investigating it. and that was, it was conspicuous when the complaint was released yesterday that there was no mention of the murder of the m.i.t. police officer collier. that's because it is a state matter. >> absolutely. more now on the investigation. as mentioned here in the states, in rhode island, tamerlan tsarnaev's wife quickly appeared outside her attorney's office. one of the attorneys said she is
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doing all she can to assist authorities and had no idea her husband was involved. let me bring in the former federal prosecutor. he served as one of the primary trial attorneys in the case against oklahoma city bomber timothy mcveigh. thank you for joining me. >> i'm happy to be here. >> you've been following this. i've seen you on our air. you said early on, one of the things that stood out to you is the role of the younger tsarnaev. you made a comparison if you will with terry nichols' role. terry nichols was all in as you put with it the oklahoma city bombing. and with dzhokhar tsarnaev, you see a difference in his role. that may impact the trial. >> right. i don't know if there is a difference. but it is certainly something that the government will focus on and will be important here. both if there is a trial or if there's not a trial and he pleads guilty. it will be very important to look at what his individual actions were.
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his individual state of mind. he has evaluated separately from his brother. yes, it is a conspiracy. but you have to look at the actions of each individual separately. >> the next step in this legal process likely to be the indictment. federal prosecutors could add new charges. is that the next most significant event as far as moving through this process which is by no means going to be a quick one here. >> you're right. it's not. the next step would be a preliminary hearing. they can indict the case within 30 days or have a preliminary hearing. the preliminary hearing would be for the purposes of supporting the complaint. they would have to show that there is probable cause to believe that dzhokhar committed the crime that was alleged in the complaint. that preliminary hearing would be something that really would involve just proving up what is in the complaint. which is pretty expansive, by
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the way. but i don't anticipate it getting into much more than that. the key is going to be the use of the grand jury. because the grand jury gives the government expansive powers of subpoena. and to take testimony. and they're not going to want to indict the case, at least, as a final matter until they can use the grang. they may seek an extension of time for bringing the indictment or they may bring a preliminary indictment, a narrow indictment and then expand it. >> the public defenders, miriam conrad, according to the "wall street journal." she represented convicted terrorists, shoe bomber richard reid and other notorious, quote/unquote, defenders. we know that she has asked that she get two death penalty lawyers. that they be pointed to represent tsarnaev, given the magnitude of the case. again, you know these kinds of cases all too well with timothy mcveigh's case. that being a death penalty case
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as well. is that a usual move for an attorney when she is defending this kind of client? >> yeah. especially a federal attorney and especially in massachusetts. if she was an attorney in the state system, he should wouldn't have a lot of experience in the death penalty cases. in the federal system, there are very few death penalty cases. i don't know if there have been any in the district of massachusetts, for example. so it would be very wise to get people involved who have a lot of experience. >> i know we'll be with you a lot more throughout this process. i greatly appreciate you joining my team. thank you. we're following some news. the mississippi man charged with sending ricin laced letters to president obama and senator roger wicker has been released from custody on bond. the developments came hours after officials canceled a detention and preliminary hearing for paul kevin curtis. you might recall he was arrested wednesday. he claimed his innocence.
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an fbi agent said authorities did not find ricin at his home or vehicle. a news conference is scheduled for later this afternoon. right now, the man charged with sending those ricin letters to president obama and senator wicker released on bond. according to the latest information. and we're also following developing news out of philadelphia. the abortion doctor charged with killing newborns that were born alive. a judge has now dropped some of the charges against him. we'll have the very latest on that breaking news story. plus -- >> we have a broken immigration system. if anything, what we see in boston is that we have to fix and modernize our system for lots of reasons. >> congressman paul ryan defending the need for immigration reform in wake of the boston bombings. but another influential republican and perhaps a future presidential candidate, senator rand paul, wants to delay the immigration debate saying the bombings exposed a weakness in our system. the latest on the second immigration hearing held today. and join the conversation on twitter. you can find us at tamron hall
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a judge has dropped nine charges including some of the most serious against abortion provider dr. kermit gosnell. among these charges dismissed, three counts of first-degree murder. the charges were dropped as the defense started presenting its case at the doctor's trial. he was accused or is accused of the overdose death of a patient and the deaths of seven babies, allegedly born alive. he still faces murder charges in the death of that patient. for babies, i should point out, the emotion associated with this case, apparently the court clerk cautioned the jury as well as two dozen or so journalists, bloggers and observers in the courtroom not to overreact when
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that ruling was read. the defense made the argument that there was not, quote, one piece of objective scientific evidence that anyone was born alive at the gosnell clinic. the judge went behind chamber doors. about 30 minutes later emerged with his ruling regarding some of the charges. so that is the latest information. some of the charges dropped against the abortion doctor in this highly watched trial out of philadelphia. homeland security secretary janet napolitano defended security procedures in place for asylum seekers at a hearing on immigration reform on capitol hill today. her testimony comes from some republicans to slow down or stop the bipartisan senate bill in light of boston bombings. but she argued the legislation will actually enhance national security. >> do you believe that the passage of this immigration reform bill will make america safer and more secure? >> yes, absolutely.
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we'll have more identifications, more metrics, more bio graphic. >> she called it a milestone. for the second state day, chuck grassley said the bombings show it is flawed. ? if that f this bill were to pass as is, we will count on an airline employee to type in a name into a pirate. if the background collection on the 12 million people who are here illegally are anything like they were in the boston bomber, we're in serious trouble. >> joining me now, michael smerconish, washington correspondent anna palmer, and columnist raul reyes. let me get your initial reaction to some of the pushback. was it predictable for some senators? or is it a valid concern? >> i would say it is both. from these senators, several of them who have raised objections
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in light of the events in boston. several were not involved to support comprehensive reform any way so the views are a little transparent. they're trying to maneuver for political gainful but it is interesting to me at these hearings. each time they pushed on this notion that we should slow things down because of the boston tragedy. it ended up with the testimony. the answers as secretary napolitano mentioned. it strengthens the case for the bill. in the answers people recited the litany for border security and defense and all the thing in place on top of the existing structure. in a way they hurt their own cause by bringing it up. >> we know our first read team points out, there are about ten or so what they described as skittish senators in this. to raul's point, you had a certain number already against this bipartisan plan. now congressman paul ryan has stepped up in this debate. let me play a little of what he said, michael. >> we have a broken immigration
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system. if anything, what we see in boston is that we have to modernize our immigration system for lots of reasons. national security reasons. economic security reasons. for all of those we need to fix it. >> you counter that with rand paul who sent a letter with harry reid saying we should not proceed until we understand the specific failures of our immigration system. both these gentlemen at least as far as the headlines could have political aspirations beyond their current jobs, maybe run for president. what are folks you talked to saying on the radio? are they linking the two? is this something inside d.c.? >> well, some who are already predisposed to being in opposition to the immigration bill i think are seizing on this for what they think it represents in terms of not just a potential intelligence failure but also an immigration failure. although i don't think that is yet borne out by the facts and it might never be. as you well know, the brother who survives is a naturalized citizen.
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the other is lawfully here on a visa. how that speaks to failings of the immigration system is not entirely clear to me. it is hard to interpret these events without also at that politico story that speaks to the political ramifications of what happens if 10 or 11 million illegals are given voting rights in the next 13 years and what then happens with regard to the next presidential election. what was a romney loss by 4 would have been a romney loss by 7. i think that is driving part of this. >> following what michael said, the political ramifications. our first read team factors this into the president's overall list of goals, legislation he would like to see passed. let me read this. first read team says if congress passes immigration reform, this discussion about obama's legislative leadership had look like a silly exercise. he will have health care, financial reform, don't ask don't tell repeal, the fiscal cliff deal and immigration trophies on the wall. yet if immigration does not pass, it will be more than fair
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to note that obama was unable to navigate a divided congress. your reaction to that. >> i think this is certainly very important to the obama legacy in terms of immigration reform being one of his top priorities, if not the top priority for the second term. but he also has guns that was a failure. an upcoming debt debate. there are still quite a few other things that will be on the, on his plans in terms of how his legacy is actually written. >> if it is seen, if immigration let's say does not pass it is and seen as a failure for the president, it would be the same for someone like senator marco rubio. if he is planning to run has put a lot of stock in passing immigration reform. his name is as tied to this as it seems. the president's would be. >> i think his legacy is more tied to it than marco rubio. he still has an opportunity to pivot away. so far he has stayed true to the gang of 8 and his negotiators
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saying that he is supportive of it. there is a long process. >> i'm curious. you speak with people from all across the country as well. what are you hearing at least? people are not mono lithic. we do not all think the same. what has been the reaction to the latino leaders, not all immigrants are latino. all these caveats. the bottom line, what has been the reaction to the bombing suspects and that issue tied into immigration reform. >> well, you know, one of the great takeaways from the 2012 election was that latinos are following this issue very closely. that is still very much the case. even before the suspects were captured. there was a lot of curiosity interests as to who these people were and whether it would influence the immigration debate. and i think if anything, it makes, it strengthens people's resolve. you have to remember these don't happen in a vacuum.
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the support among main stream voter for comprehensive reform is at an all time high. 63%. that happens to be 63%, the same number of latino voters. who personally know someone who is undocumented. so it continues to have great resonance in our community. >> when senator rand paul and others say we need to slow down the process, to look at the situation with boston, is the onus on them to come one more specific ideas rather than just throwing this notion out to slow down? >> i think that it is. the status quo politically speaking doesn't benefit the gop. if the net effect of this is that the obama initiative is derailed because of rand paul's ideas, initiatives without any justification, there would be tremendous blowback in the next presidential election and the gop cannot afford that. >> thank you very much. i greatly appreciate all three of you joining us. we'll see you soon. a new twist in the boston bombing case. as boston police now continue to
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dig into tamerlan tsarnaev's past. local officials are investigating an impossible link between murder of a friend and two others back in 2011. we'll take a look at this local case. the triple homicide and the clues there. and congressman charlie rangel now suing house speaker john boehner, alleging problems with the house investigation that led to his centsure. one of the things we thought you should know. but first, in today's money minute a look at how wall street is faring. oh, boy. [ groans ] ♪
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there are 124 delays across the country. the faa and airlines say the delays are the result of budget cuts and furloughs forced by the federal sequester. yesterday more than 1,200 flights were delayed. about 10% of the faa's air traffic controller's work force were required to take an unpaid day off. joining me now, the president and chief executive of airlines for america. thank you for your time. >> thank you for having me. >> i've seen a couple of reports disputing whether these delays we saw yesterday were normal. some allegedly weather-related. as i understand it, you believe. >> not all of them are because of the sequester. we're keeping as close track as we can based on the information from the faa. which are sequester-related and which are not. the point is these delays are increasing today as we speak and we think will continue based upon the fax's forecast to snow
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ball as time goes on. >> can you give me a percentage, at least today, for example? i said there are about 1,200 flights delayed. do we know what percentage you believe were canceled or delayed as a result of the furlough? >> i can't answer that right now. >> okay. we know reuters is reporting that the senate commerce committee leaders are pressing the obama administration for more information on how it plans to furlough air traffic controllers and close contract towers, and how it would affect public safety. there is a quote from senate commerce committee chairman jay rockefeller. he said we are faced with substantial possible disruptions to the air transportation system. what is your may know concern? obviously jobs. as far as public safety, are there questions that are lingering right now? >> we're comfortable on safety because safety won't be compromised. certainly by our member airlines. what we're concerned about is the lack of transparency in the
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faa process that doesn't give us information and did not give us information upon which we could plan. more importantly, the greatest concern is, these furloughs are unnecessary. they're unwise. and we believe they are illegal. never in the history, in our history have air traffic controllers been furloughed. the reason is simple. they not only keep the air space safe. they keep it moving. that is a matter for commerce, business travelers, leisure travelers and for shipping goods. those parties are all going to be affected. and the economy will be affected. >> all right. thank you very much. president and chief executive of airlines for america. i know we'll be with you more if these predictions ring true and we see more delays. senator max baucus, the latest member to say he is not running for election. we'll talk with nbc senior political editor mark murray. first, a lot going on today.
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here are some things we thought you should know. charlie rangel of new york is suing house speaker john boehner and six other lawmaker to have his 2012 censure on ethics charges overturned. he argues that members of the house ethics committee withheld evidence that could have cleared his name before the entire house voted to censure him. it covered a wide range of activities including failing to pay taxes on rental income for 17 years. anthony weiner back on twitter. he was caught sending a young woman accepting suggestive pictures on twitter. he is now considering, reportedly considering running in the race for mayor in new york city. those are things we thought you should know. when our little girl was born,
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another twist in the life of
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the suspected boston marathon bomber, tamerlan tsarnaev. a man described as his best friend, brendan moss and two other friends were found dead on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. their throats were slashed. their bodies apparently sprinkled with marijuana. $5,000 left on the scene outside of boston. michael daly wrote about this case. he joins me now. the relevance of the reference all over the bodies, the authorities thought this was some kind of drug deal gone bad. but the drugs and the money reportedly left behind. >> that would mean a drug deal gone really bad. yang a drug rip-off leaving $5,000 around unless they did not see it. you would think they would have taken the spotted pot rather than sprinkle it around them. a year and a half into this, they haven't come up with any suspects.
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and in the aftermath you find out one of the three victims was the best friend, the person that tamerlan described as his best friend. you have to wonder if there is somehow some connection. would you have to horrific acts of violence and one common denominator. >> it is still open. i didn't mean to interrupt you. the case has remained open. they say they will pursue any leads that arise from the boston marathon bombing case. i think they're going to ask if they saw any people around the apartment. they'll be going through attemptland's apartment to see if there is anything from brendan mess's place.
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they'll go over the forensics. i think they'll look for any possible connection. as far as the link between them, i've read they were best friends, that they were workout buddies, it is all over the place. what have you been able to find out regarding their friendship or relationship? >> what i've been told is they did work out together. tamerlan was a boxing guy. the other guy was a martial arts guy. what i've been told at one point, tamerlan introduced brendan as his best friend. i think brendan may have been tamerlan's only friend. i haven't seen anyone coming forward saying he was my friend, we used to do this together, that together. a couple people that were roommates on boxing trips but
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there doesn't seem to be a real friendship developed. the only real friend out of this is brendan mess. and he seemston a very pleasant generally happy go lucky guy a lot of people liked. >> thank you very much. people should go on to the daily beast and read more of your report on this investigation. this triple murder investigation with its strange ties to say the least. thank you for your time. >> after a week of voting no on gun checks, and criticizing the health care bill he helped draft, baucus said he will not seek re-election. the announcement is somewhat of a surprise. at the end of march, he had raised nearly $5 million for his election bid. he is the siktd democrat to not seek re-election. two democrats have announced they won't run next year. joining me now, mark murray. we're not saying that the vote no on the back ground collection
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or the comments made by senator baucus regarding health care legislation he co-sponsored are the reason he's leaving but the timing is within a week there. >> it surprising timing. a lot of russ following these 2014 raise had been assuming that max baucus would run for re-election. he had amassed a substantial war chest. there was not a big time republican candidate to run for this seat just yet. so it seemed like even though this was not going to be a sure slam-dunk for max baucus, that thing were sitting pretty. the news surprised at love people. the democrats see a potential silver lining. they think they have a chance being able to get the former montana governor to run. that would be good news for them. if neither of the two run, this would be a prime opportunity for republicans to pick up the seat. >> and moving ahead, the president has another of those important dinners tonight. a critical group to say the least with him tonight.
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>> it is. tamron, you mentioned he's had other dinners in his so-called charm offensive with senators and members of congress. it is worth noting that most of these have been with men and this time around he is being with a group of entirely women. democrats and republicans. and this is all just an effort to build better relations with capitol hill members of congress as they are moving forward to try to get some type of deal done on the budget. >> and as far as those attending the meeting, and i don't want to put you on the spot because i know you probe don't have the dipper list. do you have some of the name who will be attending the dinner? >> my understanding is from my colleague, almost all the 20 female senators and congress, minus one or two will be tappeding tonight. i don't have the exact names but it will be almost all of them. >> appreciate you joining us. i'm sure you have more details on this dinner tomorrow for us. we'll see you tomorrow. and the rain continues.
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look at the rain in parts of the midwest. they can't handle anymore. this is some of the flooding in illinois. we'll check the weather channel for an update on the flooding, affecting a great portion of the midwest today. i had enough of feeling embarrassed about my skin.
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and may not clear you completely, but for many, it gets skin clearer fast, within 2 months, and keeps it clearer through 6 months. [ male announcer ] enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events, including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders, and allergic reactions have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. you should not start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if you have symptoms such as persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. if you've had enough, ask your dermatologist about enbrel.
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the national weather service has issued several flood warnings as more rain continues to pound a region already hit hard by widespread flooding, causing at least five deaths. illinois governor pat quinn has reported 44 counties in the state disaster areas and has called this week's flooding some of the worst in the state's history. missouri's governor also declared state of emergency after flash flooding hit many areas in that state. joining me from the weather channel is kelly cass. what's the latest from the forecast? >> good afternoon. that flooding you just talked about is courtesy of four to eight inches of rain that we saw last week and portions of iowa, even into chicago.
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we saw severe flooding about a week ago. yes, it is raining right now but we're not expecting those kinds of rainfall totals. somebody could see maybe a half ink to an i , a half inch to an inch. that's a bit of good news. this is where we have flood warnings going on right now. and that's because we're in flood stage. even the purple markers, that represents where we have major flood stage going on and we've had record flooding going on along the des plaines river. the illinois river as well. this is the river gauge at peoria, illinois. we've had sandbagging and evacuations going on on either side of the river. this is why. we just crested at a record crest of 29.4. so we rose rather quickly because of all the rainfall that we saw last week. and remember it takes time for these rivers to come back down again. this is a different story. this is not rainfall that will be causing flooding at the red river in fargo, north dakota. this will be snow melt.
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we are speakinging it to melt rapidly this weekend. we'll reach major flood stage. probably like next tuesday, all the way to 35.4 feet. >> all right. thank you very much. for keeping us up to date. we'll have more on the hardship those folks in the midwest are dealing with with this flooding. still ahead, our "news nation" gut check. the story that a lot of people are about. there guy is a news anchor. his first day on the job. he was caught in one of those open mike moments, letting off a mean little tear of curse words. but many people are asking, does the guy deserve a second chance? did he deserve to get canned? we'll show you the video. you decide. we won't show you the curse words. but we'll show you what happened. and be sure to like the "news nation" at facebook. [ male announcer ] at optionsxpress, our clients really appreciate our powerful,
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we're following news out of
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west texas. the first lawsuit has been filed connected to that terrible explosion that cost 14 people their lives. 200 others were injured. this accusation by a single mother in the lawsuit, she says she and her minor child lost all of their worldly possessions. the plaintiff said she suffered physically as well as emotional injuries in the explosion. according to that lawsuit filed today, the first lawsuit filed in connection to that plant explosion, the fertilizer plant explosion in texas, 14 people died in that explosion. the president will be in texas on thursday to visit the site of the explosion and those who are still putting their lives back together as that investigation continues. we don't know what caused the explosion. at least from the information from the plant. time for the "news nation" gut check. a local news anchor has been fired after opening his first ever broadcast with an obscenity. it all happened in our nbc
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affiliate in bismarck, north dakota. >> reporter: right at the top of north dakota's weekend news. [ bleep ] a.j. clemente uttered his first words as a tv anchor. a rough way to start. they were jugging multiple stories that evening but he didn't seem to realize he was on camera. watch it again. it didn't get much better after his co-, aor's first question. >> tell as you little about yourself, a.j. >> thanks. i'm very excited. i graduated from west virginia university and i'm used to, you know, from the east coast. >> the video went viral. >> clemente tweeted, that couldn't have gone any worse. >> it spreads like wildfire on youtube. it is just so secondhand embarrassing but also kind of fascinating. >> his bosses weren't amused. the fledgling anchor was first suspended. then outright fired. consider this moment also on tv
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over the weekend. the boston red sox great david ortiz. deeply touched by the terrible events of the week. >> this is [ bleep ] city. >> the head of the fcc, the strict tv watch dog excused the baseball star. david ortiz spoke from the heart at today's red sox game. i stand with big papi and the peel of boston. clemente got similar support from viewers on the facebook page. one viewer wrote, the kid screwed up big time but he shouldn't have to have his early career ruined. instead the apology came from the news director. along with an insurance that off color on camera comments like this [ bleep ] won't be heard at the news desk again. >> that was nbc's stephanie goss. humor sadly at that guy's expense. what does your gut tell you? do you think that a.j. clemente should have been fired? go to facebook.com to cast the
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vote. make sure my mike is off any time that happens to me. that does it. and it happens a lot. that does it for this edition of "news nation." i'm tamron hall. i hope you have a good day. "the cycle" is up next. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] this is a reason to look twice. this is a stunning work of technology. the 2013 lexus es and the first-ever es hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection. a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion.
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so be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. i'm a blue-collar worker. to me, bayer aspirin is another tool. go talk to your doctor. you're not indestructible anymore. ♪ legislating after life events. we'll discuss what boston needs for the high stake battles through the lens of past tragedies like 9/11 and newtown. >> the secret is out. the controversial program is growing. senators on both sides will demand a public debate. >> i'm krystal ball. we get a lot of tweets here. what we got yesterday had us rearranging the guest spin.